Claiming his Cursed Duchess (Cursed Brides #2)

Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

R osaline sat in the window of Genevieve’s home in Ravenshire.

Her eyes followed Wilhelm and Genevieve as they walked with their newborn baby on the grass below them.

She felt envious of their soft touches and easy mannerisms, her mind filled with thoughts of Adam.

She had hardly slept since she had arrived, and was now intimately familiar with the petals of the ceiling rose above her bed.

Despite arriving unannounced, she had been welcomed with open arms.

Genevieve had taken one look at her and ushered her inside, handing the baby to Wilhelm and putting a reassuring arm around Rosaline’s shoulders.

The days in between had been gentle but filled with questions. Rosaline had told Genevieve only a small amount of what had taken place, but her cousin had still assumed it was something Adam had done.

She had offered to return to London and knock the duke’s head from his shoulders if Rosaline wished her to. Rosaline was grateful for her cousin’s anger on her behalf, but it did little to dispel the sadness she carried.

Rosaline traced patterns on the glass, watching a blackbird wheel past her window.

When she had left London, it had been an impulsive decision, but she had at least expected to feel happier to be away from Adam for a time.

She had not expected the yawning unhappiness that filled her every waking moment.

In such a short time, Adam’s arrogant, volatile world had become interlinked with her own and it seemed she could not do without him—even if she was furious with him.

She glanced down at the gardens once more, having been lost in thought, and noticed that Wilhelm was now standing with the baby alone on the lawns.

After a minute or two, there was a soft knock at her bedchamber door and Rosaline called for her cousin to enter—knowing that it would be Genevieve coming to check on her.

“You are looking very pale,” Genevieve said as she bustled inside. “Are you sure I cannot tempt you with any food? You have been eating like a bird since you came here.”

“I am not hungry, but thank you.”

Genevieve frowned, sighing heavily. “Will you not tell me more of what took place? I promise not to tell Wilhelm, if you would prefer. I do not enjoy seeing you like this.”

Rosaline’s eyes remained on Wilhelm below them and Genevieve’s found him also, her expression softening as a little smile played across her lips at the sight of her husband.

“I am so sorry to intrude upon your lives like this,” Rosaline muttered.

“I have already told you it is of no matter. This house can bear another person within it, and you got to meet little Charlotte. And I would much rather you were here than in London with that oaf.”

Rosaline could not help laughing. “You have not met him, Genevieve.”

“I do not need to. Anyone who can make you look so sad is no friend of mine.”

Genevieve sat down beside her on the window seat, taking Rosaline’s hand in her own.

“Please, Rosaline, what has happened? In your last letter you sounded as though things were improving.”

Rosaline chewed her lip looking outward at the bright, cloudless sky.

“You know that our marriage was hasty,” she said tentatively, and Genevieve nodded. “Well, I have now discovered the reason for it.”

“Which is?”

“Adam was blackmailed by my uncle. I do not know the reason behind the blackmail, Adam would not tell me, but I can only believe that it was to finally be rid of me. Their scarred burden, thrown to the wolves so that they could live their merry lives.”

“That ink-blotted ghoul! What could Lord Claridge have to blackmail the Duke of Oldstone with?”

“I do not know, but it must be something very grave indeed.”

“And you left when you discovered the truth?”

“I left when he would not explain himself. He told me I should be grateful for my status and that I could never expect anything more than a marriage of convenience.”

Genevieve’s expression grew grave. “The heartless cur! I would have thought that you would be pleased to be apart from him.”

“I am,” she protested, but her cousin arched an eyebrow in response. “What?”

“A woman who is happy to be parted from her husband behaves very differently to you, Rosaline. You seem…well…lovesick.”

“Lovesick? Pah! You yourself called him a heartless cur,” Rosaline scoffed disdainfully and stood up, twisting her fingers before her as she began to pace.

Genevieve sighed. “I did call him that, yet seeing you like this… It does not feel to me that things are altogether decided between you. If you had entirely turned away from him, you would not be so melancholy.”

Rosaline did not wish to believe her, but her cousin’s words struck at a chord on her heart—a piece of her that did not wish to abandon Adam altogether, despite everything that had passed between them.

“When Wilhelm first approached me,” Genevieve continued, “he did not have the purest intentions either, you know. He wished to use the curse against his enemies and make them fear him by our marriage. It was only spending time with me that changed his mind as he grew to love me.”

“Adam does not love me,” Rosaline said vehemently.

“But do you love him?”

She stopped in her tracks, turning slowly back toward Genevieve, unable to speak.

“How quickly your mind turns about. Just now you hated the man,” Rosaline protested.

Genevieve snorted. “I am not excusing Adam. I am not acquainted with him. But I am acquainted with you, and you are not happy here. You have not been happy even when you told me you were glad to be rid of him.”

Rosaline returned to her seat, staring out at the cloudless sky.

It is such a beautiful day. I wonder what the weather is like in London.

Genevieve took her hand once more. “Do you want to distance yourself from him forever, or find out what he truly wants? From what little you have told me, he seems to care for you—even if he has made his fair share of idiotic mistakes. Running away will only get you so far. It cannot resolve anything.”

Rosaline smiled faintly. “Perhaps you are right,” she said softly. “I cannot resolve anything here, but I am not yet ready to return to London. I will go to Oldstone and have a few days alone to clear my head.”

Genevieve squeezed her hand. “If you choose to do so, then so be it, but it is quite far, and you will need to rest on the way. There is an inn called The Black Heart where you can break your journey. I will not have you traveling through the night as you did when you arrived.”

Rosaline nodded. “You are always taking care of me.”

“As is my duty as the older cousin. And with that in mind, luncheon is served, and I shall see you eat more than a square of toast before you go. Come along.”

Genevieve pulled Rosaline bodily from her seat, and she laughed as her cousin dragged her downstairs.

Even if Adam turns his back on me forever, I am lucky to have such a loving—albeit forceful—family.

Night pressed in at the windows as Adam sat in his chair before the empty fire, a glass of whiskey in his hand. He did not know how many he had drunk.

A knock sounded at the door as the butler entered quietly carrying his supper. Adam did not move as the man took away the untouched tray from the morning and replaced it with a steaming bowl of stew and bread.

He listened to the quiet clinking and rustling as the butler laid everything out and then left him to his solitude.

The ache in Adam’s leg was far worse than usual tonight, throbbing painfully even as he rubbed at it.

If Rosaline were here, she would no doubt force some more of that liniment on me.

He drank a healthy swallow of whiskey, glowering at his leg.

Has she taken the bottle with her? Perhaps I can find it in her chambers.

His eyes moved to the ceiling, a shudder of unease rushing through him as he considered going into her rooms. Doubtlessly, they would smell of her, and he would be quite overcome with misery again.

Damn my idiotic mind that cannot let her go.

He had received a short note confirming that Rosaline had arrived at Ravenshire, but nothing more.

He rubbed a hand over his face, wincing as he shifted position, and his back and leg protested violently after sitting still for so long.

I should be elated. This should be a wonderful day.

He had won. He had finally beaten Claridge and almost knocked the man senseless for good measure. Henry was safe, his future was secure, everything should have been perfect.

Yet he could not share his relief with the one person he wanted to. Rosaline now knew Claridge’s blackmail had led to their marriage.

How will I ever convince her that I want her to stay because of who she is, not some bargain I made with such a man?

“My God, the rumors are true. A monster resides within.”

Adam jolted at the voice from the doorway as Phineas entered without knocking and strode inside.

He came to stand in front of Adam, staring down at him with a deeply unimpressed expression.

“I hear that your bride has abandoned you, old sport. What did you do, strike up another bargain with the dark powers and create a curse to destroy yourself?”

“Go to the devil,” Adam muttered angrily.

“That, my good friend, is precisely what got us into this mess.”

Phineas walked to the side of the room and rang the bell as Harris appeared moments later.

“Could we get a fire in here, and some candles please?” Phineas instructed.

“You are not the master of this house!” Adam slurred, realizing suddenly how drunk he was. “Get out.”

“No, I do not think I will. I shall pull you from this gloom if it is my last act. Is that your supper?” he asked, walking to the tray and bringing it over to him. “Do not make me feed you like a child. You know I will.”

Adam glared at him, but Phineas was entirely unmoved.

His friend picked up the silver spoon at the side of the tray, filled it with the stew and hovered it in front of Adam’s face until he was forced to take it.

A maid entered and began to see to the fire as Phineas pulled up a chair and leveled Adam with a fierce stare until he finally put the spoon in his mouth and swallowed.

As the salty gravy touched his tongue, he realized how famished he was and leaned forward, ripping up the bread and dipping it into the bowl without any decorum whatsoever.

Phineas seemed not to care, watching him steadily, until Adam leaned back in his chair, noticing that the light had filtered through the room and his friend was bathed in a soft glow.

“Hmm, that’s better.” Phineas muttered. “I just saw Henry at my club. He is rather worried about you, my friend. I thought things were going well the last time I saw you and your cursed bride?—”

“Stop referring to her in that way,” he barked.

Phineas smiled smugly. “Yes, I thought so.”

“What?”

“You are besotted. The reason you are in this state is because she is gone, is it not? This is not proper behavior for a man of your standing.”

“Is this what you came here for? To berate me for my decisions? I will cast you out of the house.”

“What has happened? Where is she?”

Adam straightened in his chair, the food helping to fill his stomach with something other than whiskey. Slowly, the room stopped spinning around him and Phineas came into sharper focus.

His friend leaned forward in his chair. “Did she fly away on a broomstick?”

“Phineas, I shall knock you down.”

“Where is your wife? ”

“Ravenshire! Be damned to you. She has left me.”

“Oh poppycock, she would no more leave you than the sun would refuse to rise tomorrow.”

“And how would you know that?”

Phineas stood, his face half in shadow from the light in the room but he looked rather menacing in that moment.

“I know because I have seen the way you look at one another. You are a blind, stupid fool, Oldstone, and I will not allow you to sabotage your life like this.”

“Me? I have done nothing. She walked away.”

“And for what reason?”

Adam sat stoically in his chair. He could not speak of his argument with Rosaline, he was too ashamed of his behavior to say it aloud.

Phineas growled in exasperation, picking up his belongings from the desk as Adam stood, meeting his friend’s glare with one of his own.

Phineas sighed helplessly. “Rosaline cares for you, just as you care for her. Whatever you have done, remedy it, because you deserve to be happy and she is the source of it all.”

He placed his hat on his head, giving Adam a smart nod, and walked out, leaving him with nothing but the crackle of the fire and the truth of his friend’s words ringing in his ears.